NATHANAEL
(nuh than' ay ehl) Personal name meaning, “giver of God.” An
Israelite whom Jesus complimented as being guileless (John 1:47) and
who, in turn confessed the Lord as being the Son of God and King of
Israel (John 1:49).
Nathanael was from Cana of Galilee (John 21:2) and apparently
became one of the inner core of disciples who followed Jesus.
Although Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not mention him by name, his two
appearances in John point to his devotion to Christ. Some have
equated him with Bartholomew.
Philip announced to Nathanael that Jesus was the promised Messiah
(John 1:45). It was then that Nathanael made the infamous remark,
“Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” See Disciples.
BARTHOLOMEW
(bahr thuhl' oh meew) One of the twelve apostles (Mark 3:18). The
name Bartholomew means “son of Talmai,” and may have been a
patronymic, a name derived from that of the father or a paternal
ancestor. It occurs in all four lists of the apostles in the New
Testament (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13);
in each of the Gospels it immediately follows the name of Philip.
The name does not occur at all in John's Gospel. In the first
chapter of John, however, the account of Philip's call to
discipleship is closely related to the call of a person named
Nathanael (John 1:43-51). This circumstance has led to the
traditional identification of Bartholomew with Nathanael. See
Nathaniel; Apostles; Disciples.
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